EU Intellectual Property Office- image search guide

When registering a trade mark, it is first essential to determine whether an existing trade mark identical or similar to the one you are proposing exists.

To aid you, both the UK and the EU Intellectual Property Office have tools allowing you to search for existing trade marks using keywords or their trade mark number.

Advancing from this, the EU IPO has now introduced an additional search feature that allows you to search using an image.

This will be especially useful if you know of the brands logo but need to know their registered name or the owner of the mark.

To start the process, follow this link:

https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/new-image-search

You can upload photos in a number of formats and attach either a keyword or a class of goods or services to aid your search.

This will then find all registered marks in the EU that are identical or similar to that picture you uploaded.

This is especially useful if you are looking to file just an image trade mark and want to see if any existing marks may be a block to your registration.

You can also search specifically for the colour also allowing you to make a focused search on exactly what will affect your application.

For a step by step guide on exactly how to make a search follow this link:

https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/performing-a-basic-search-of-an-image

For more information, contact Jane Coyle at The Trademarkroom

By Ellis Sweetenham